SQUISHMALLOWS HAPPY MEALS

My daughter is going to be GEEKED! She and her friends LOVE Jazwares Squishmallows and later this year these goofy plush collectible characters will be included in McDonald's Happy Meal promotion. Be on the lookout this summer because twenty-four (24) mini Squishmallows will be included in specially themed Happy Meal containers. 

While there will be 24 mini Squishmallows, including exclusive and seasonal designs, for kids to collect, each participating McDonald’s location will only be allocated 10-12 of the character types. So, if you want to get your hands on all 24 you may need to do some driving around. Examples of Happy Meal Squishmallows include a shark donning a weathered denim vest and a black bandana, a cat wearing blue-and-green sunglasses with a matching fanny pack, and a hedgehog wearing headphones with epic fire designs.

The Happy Meals will come in Squishmallows-themed boxes with an adorable matching box inside that matches the Squishmallow! 14 of the mini Squishmallows will also come with an exclusive playlist created by Universal Music Group that will encapsulate the plush toy’s personality. To access the playlists, kids will need to scan the QR code on the Squishmallows packaging or the Happy Meal box.

Will you be planning to go to McDonalds this summer to get a Squishmallow Happy Meal? They should be arriving in a mid-July to August timeframe after McDonalds has wrapped up Happy Meal promotions with Disney's Little Mermaid and Pixar's Elementals. 

40 YEARS OF HAPPY MEALS

A Geek Daddy received the featured products for promotional consideration

Who doesn't love a Happy Meal?! This year marks the 40th anniversary of the debut of Happy Meals at McDonalds. To celebrate the occasion, beginning November 7, 2019 while supplies last you can get limited-edition Surprise Happy Meals featuring fan-favorite throwback toys from the past four decades at restaurants worldwide. Don't miss out on picking up some of these classic Happy Meal toys because one they are gone … they're gone! Thanks McDonalds for sending us a box of these Surprise Happy Meal toys for this dad blogger to unbox.

The very first edition of the these children's meals was called the Circus Wagon Happy Meal which became available nationally in the United States in 1979. Happy Meals in their first years featured decorative boxes with a variety of themes and included prizes such as a spinning top or an eraser in the image of a McDonaldland character. These eventually evolved into the iconic red boxes with golden arches for a handle that contains a collectible toy that we are all familiar with now.

Over the years Happy Meal toys have been associated with promoting movies, toy lines, and McDonalds' mascots. My favorite toys have to have been the Looney Tunes character action figures dressed up as DC Comics super heroes that were a promotion in the mid-90s. I still have one of these, the Tasmanian Devil dressed up as The Flash, which stays on my office desk as a cherished keepsake. Do you have a favorite McDonalds Happy Meal toy?

From November 7 - 11, McDonalds Happy Meals will each have a blind bag in them which will contain one of 15 throwback toys from the past forty years inside. It will be a surprise which toy is inside until its package is ripped open. These toys are being randomly distributed so there is an equal chance of getting any of these toys from the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s.

The toys which can be discovered in these Limited Edition Surprise Happy Meals include:

· Cowboy McNugget (McDonald’s): 1988
· Fireman McNugget (McDonald’s): 1988
· Mail Carrier McNugget (McDonald’s): 1988
· Hamburger Changeable (McDonald’s): 1989
 · Grimace (McDonald’s): 1990
· Dino Happy Meal Box Changeable (McDonald’s): 1991
 · McDonald’s Hot Wheels Thunderbird (Mattel): 1993
· Hamburglar (McDonald’s): 1995
 · Power Rangers (Hasbro): 1995
· Space Jam Bugs Bunny (Warner Brothers): 1996
 · Patti the Platypus (Ty Beanie Baby): 1997
· Tamagotchi (Bandai): 1998
· My Little Pony (Hasbro): 1998
· Furby (Hasbro): 1999
· Hello Kitty (Sanrio): 2013